A Journey's Journey
by Frostypie901
Summary: Journeypaw, Cornerpaw, and Shadowpaw's mother is dead. They know this because Goldstar told them, but she also reveals that she could have saved her. With the Clan almost torn apart by distrust, can the three littermates take on the most unexpected challenge of their lives? [Rated T for Future Violence]
1. Allegiances and Prologue

**Sorry about the slow updates, I can't catch a break from the evil Writer's Block!**

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**ALLEGIANCES:**

**THUNDERCLAN:**

**Leader: **Goldstar- golden-colored she with dark green eyes.

**Deputy: **Flyingclaw- ginger tom with sky-colored blue eyes. _Apprentice, Graypaw_

**Medicine Cat: **Smallleaf- Small, lithe, young brown and white she with amber eyes

**Warriors: **Squirreltooth- white she with black speckles, large teeth, and dark yellow eyes

Hawkflight- brown, black, and white tom with amber eyes

Nightleaf- a black and dark gray tabby tom with grass-green eyes

Rainsplatter- Dark gray and ginger tabby tom with yellow eyes

Whitepetal- White she with light green eyes

Roaringwing- Black she with amber eyes

Flashfang- Ginger and black tabby tom with yellow eyes

Leopardstripe- Golden-colored and black tabby she with dark blue eyes

Charredstripe- Ginger and black tabby tom with amber eyes

Dewnose- Small orange she with light blue eyes

Blacktail- Black long-furred tom with light green eyes _Apprentice, Cloudpaw_

Volepelt- Brown she with yellow eyes and a unusually skinny tail.

**Apprentices: **Graypaw- Light gray tom with green eyes

Cloudpaw- White and light gray tom with green eyes

**Queens:** Journeyspot- light gray she with black speckles and light blue eyes, mother of Nightleaf's kits (Cornerkit, Journeykit, and Shadowkit)

**Kits: **Journeykit- light gray she with black speckles and light blue eyes

Cornerkit- black and gray long-furred tabby tom with amber eyes

Shadowkit- black and dark gray tabby tom with light gray speckles, a green eye, and a blue eye

**Elders: **Oakleaf- Brown she with dark blue eyes

Wavepelt- Dark gray tom with dark green eyes

**SHADOWCLAN:**

**Leader: **Brightstar- White she with dark amber eyes

**Deputy:**

**Medicine Cat:**

**Warriors: **Thorntooth- Ginger and black tabby she with brown eyes _Apprentice, Strongpaw_  
Seedpelt - Brown, black-speckled tom with dark blue eyes

**Apprentices: **Strongpaw- Gray tom with amber eyes

Nightpaw- Dark gray and black she with yellow eyes

**Queens:**

**Kits:**

**Elders:**

**WINDCLAN:**

**Leader: **Hoppingstar- Brown and white she with jet black paws and yellow eyes

**Deputy:**

**Medicine** **Cat: **Featherbreeze- Gray and white tom with dark green eyes. _Apprentice, Heatpaw_

**Warriors: **Zephyrclaw- Small brown tom with yellow eyes

Tallbreeze- Large brown and black speckled tom with amber eyes

**Apprentices: **Heatpaw- Golden she with light blue eyes

**Queens:**

**Kits:**

**Elders:**

**RIVERCLAN:**

**Leader: **Reedstar- Silvery tom with light blue eyes

**Deputy:**

**Medicine Cat: **Floatingstone- Gray and black she with light, almost yellow, amber eyes

**Warriors: **Moonflight- White tom with dark green eyes**  
**

**Apprentices: **

**Queens: **Streamsong- Silvery she with light brown eyes, expecting Moonflight's kits**  
**

**Kits:**

**Elders:**

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**PROLOGUE:**

The sun rose on a young Journeykit. It was a beautiful day in ThunderClan, and her littermates, Cornerkit and Shadowkit, who were still snoozing in the back of the nursery.

As for Journeykit, she was thinking about how she looked just like her mother, and she was proud of it. Her beautiful, silky light gray coat covered in scattered black speckles; her light blue eyes... Now that she thought about it.. where _was_ Journeyspot anyways?

Suddenly, Goldstar padded into the stone hollow, looking sad. A little too sad, to be exact, and she was padding towards the nursery.

"Journeykit... I need to tell you and your brothers something. Wake them up and tell them I'm here," she ordered.

_This must be the start of an adventure! _"Yes, Goldstar!" she squealed silently.

She dashed towards Cornerkit and Shadowkit. "Wake up, guys, Goldstar wants to see us!"

Cornerkit stirred, got up to his paws, and shook Shadowkit gently. "Wake up, you lousy," he yawned, "slug."

Shadowkit got up to his paws too. "What do you want? It's hardly dawn!"

_Still as grumpy as ever, _Journeykit thought. Cornerkit mewed, "Goldstar wants to see us!" _Cornerkit's still as precise as ever. He'll never use his common sense to figure out that she wants to talk to us instead of just looking at us._

Shadowkit's eyes widened. "_Goldstar_ wants to see _us?_"

Journeykit mewed, "That's right! Now come on!" She dashed out of the nursery, where Goldstar was waiting for her and her brothers, who were trailing behind, Shadowkit last.

When all the of the siblings lined up, Journeykit bouncing with excitement, Goldstar sighed. "Journeykit.. this isn't the best news..."

Journeykit felt a stab of worry. "Did something bad happen?" She could see Shadowkit glancing back at Journeyspot's nest worriedly.

Goldstar continued, "Yes, Journeykit, something bad _did _happen. You see... Journeyspot is dead."

Journeykit's smile and excitement became a dis-lightened face and grief. "Wh- What?!"

"She was out on a stroll by the lake, and tried to fight off two WindClan warriors on our territory, insulting me and my Clan... I feel so ashamed... I just stood there and watched, too shocked to do anything..."

Shadowkit yowled, "How _could _you?! That was our _mother _you just let die!"

Cornerkit turned to Shadowkit, "Hey! Be respectful of her! She's sad and sorry about it, can't you see?"

Goldstar sighed, "Shadowkit's right, Cornerkit... I'm a failure to you... to Journeyspot... to Thunderclan."

"No you're not!" Journeykit squealed, trying to hold back her grief and, she admitted to herself, anger, "You're the best leader ever, even if you did make mistakes!"

Goldstar refused her encouragement, "Thank you, Journeykit, but... But I just need some alone time."

Journeykit watched in pity as Goldstar slumped away, clearly hating her own guts. _Why do the greatest warriors have to make the worst mistakes?_


	2. Chapter 1 - Apprentices

"Shadowkit, from this day forward until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Shadowpaw. Your mentor will be Squirrelltooth."

_Yes! _Shadowkit had hoped that Goldstar wouldn't have made him her apprentice. _She knows that I despise her. Good.  
_

Then he thought about Journeypaw. _she was made Goldstar's apprentice.. and she seemed.. _okay _with it?! How could she! Goldstar practically killed our mother! _

Shadowpaw headed for Squirrelltooth, the young warrior with a white, speckled pelt and large fangs, in the clearing. They touched noses as ritual goes and sat down.

Cornerpaw was already sharing tongues with his mentor, Hawkflight, a brown, black, and white she. In fact, it looked as if Cornerpaw was the most excited of the three of them for some reason.

Shadowpaw shook it off; it wasn't his business. For now, all he needed to worry about was how well Squirreltooth would train him.

_He'd better train me well! I won't let a stupid mentor get in the way of me becoming the best warrior ThunderClan has ever seen._

Suddenly, a voice boomed from next to him, "Shadowpaw, are you daydreaming?" The voice belonged to Journeyki- no, Journeypaw.

Shadowpaw spun around at her and stuttered, "Wha- N-No, I wasn't!" He noticed that Squirreltooth had left his side and glanced at where he was.

Journeypaw rolled her eyes, lowering her voice a little, "I know you all too well. I bet you were thinking about hating Goldstar or something."

Shadowpaw sighed. Why did Journeypaw have to butt in on his business all the time? "Okay, you got me. What are you going to do with me?"

"Nothing, mouse-brain, it's against the warrior code to attack Clanmates."

"I know _that, _I just-"

She interrupted him, sneering, "It's _also _against the warrior code to be disloyal to your Clan."

Shadowpaw grunted.

Journeypaw sighed, "Oh, lighten up, will you?"

"'_Lighten up?!' _Is that what you're trying to do?! Well, you're mouse-brained if you think _that's _going to help!" He stormed off, leaving Journepaw's remark behind as well as her.

He mumbled, "Why can't Journeypaw be more like Cornerpaw? He at least _he _understands me!"

He heard Squirreltooth to the left of him, "Where do you think you're going? It's not even sunhigh- I may as well teach you _a _border."

Shadowpaw looked up at his mentor. He was looking just as excited as Shadowpaw had suddenly felt.

"R-Really?" he stuttered.

"Yup!" Squirreltooth answered, "And if we're lucky, we can get the borders over with today."

Hawkflight padded over to Squirreltooth and looked over to Shadowpaw, "Yep! Goldstar said that since it's so early in the day we may as well get them out of the way."

"Yes! Oh, oh, can Cornerpaw come too?"

"Sure," Squirreltooth mewed, "Why not?"

_Yes! _He didn't want Journeypaw to come, with a traitorous monster as a mentor.

Shadowpaw looked into the stone hollow, but Cornerpaw wasn't in sight. He turned back around and Hawkflight was heading down to the clearing.

_Gone to get him. Well, at least_ I_ don't have to.  
_


	3. Chapter 2- WindClan

Cornerpaw was looking at the apprentices' den, looking for a good place to sleep for the next few moons.

_Hmm.. this one is moist... No wonder no cats have slept here... Are all the good places taken? No, probably not. There isn't that many apprentices, are there?_

_I have no clue anymore... Oh! Wait! There's a good one. _

He sniffed the nest. _No trace of cat scent... except for the faint scent of Flashfang. He probably slept here when he was an apprentice. This is the perfect spot; relatively warm on cold nights, but not too warm for Greenleaf._

Suddenly, he heard pawsteps and turned around; what he was Hawkflight.

"Oh, hi Hawkflight. What are you doi-" Cornerpaw began.

Hawkflight interrupted, "Goldstar said we could begin training. Shadowpaw wanted to train with you, too."

"Are you letting him?"

"Yep. We're going now, so..."

They said nothing more, and Cornerpaw darted ahead towards Shadowpaw.

"Hey, Cornerpaw. What were you doing?" Shadowpaw asked.

"I was looking for the perfect nest in the apprentices' den," he answered.

"Smart," Shadowpaw commented, "But what happens if I take it?"

"Then I'd rip your ears off and feed 'em to you," Cornerpaw joked.

Cornerpaw saw a white she-cat heading towards the group.

"Hi, Cloudpaw!" Shadowpaw mewed happily.

"So, you're finally apprentices, huh? Me and Graypaw'll still be a step ahead of you; our warrior's ceremonies can't be too long from coming. We're having our second assessment today."

Cornerpaw smiled, "Congratulations! Won't be too long after the final, will it?"

Cloudpaw's tail was waving quickly back and forth. "Uh-huh! At least, I don't think it'll be that long... Me and Graypaw are ten moons now, you kno-"

She was interrupted by a voice behind her. "Cloudpaw! You don't want to be late!"

"Coming!" Cloudpaw yowled to her mentor, Blacktail, who was a few tail-lengths away.

"See you," Cornerpaw mewed as Cloudpaw darted off.

"Let's go, you two," Hawkflight commanded suddenly, "Want to miss our first day of training?"

Cornerpaw and Shadowpaw followed their mentors out of the stone hollow for the first time.

The sunlight ripped through the trees, making a beautiful array of light shine through to the forest floor. It was the best thing Cornerpaw had ever seen.

The four were still walking, but Cornerpaw wanted to stay and stare at the sight forever. Or did he? _No, I need to focus... first day of training... Focus: Hawkflight and Squirrelltooth._

Squirrelltooth mewed, "It's a huge forest, you two. Don't be planning on knowing your way around on the first day."

"I know it's a big forest!" Cornerpaw mewed, offended, "I mean, as big as our camp is, the forest ought to be _huge_!"

Squirrelltooth flicked her tail but purred with amusement, "That it is, Cornerpaw."

Shadowpaw grumbled, "Great. Now I have to explore something even _bigger _than the camp. It took me a moon and a half to memorize the camp."

Cornerpaw rolled his eyes, "Oh, cheer up, will you? Journeypaw was trying to do that earlier. Besides, didn't you like exploring?"

"Not really."

Cornerpaw flicked his tail and went ahead of Shadowpaw, leaving him trailing behind.

After what felt like a moon of walking in silence, Cornerpaw heard the trickle of a stream.

"We're here," came Hawkflight's voice.

"The Windclan border," Squirrelltooth echoed.

Cornerpaw's tail drooped in awe. A ledge a few tail-lengths or so high left half the group in shadows left the horizon decorated with beautiful hills.

Shadowpaw's voice sounded amazed, and surpisingly happy, "Woah!"

"Yeah, I know, right?" Hawkflight agreed with their awe, "First time I saw it I wanted to hop in the stream and try climbing the ledge. Later, I did. but I failed. Almost drowned, actually."

Squirrelltooth sneered, "I remember when you were an apprentice. I caught you trying to climb it and I tried to fish you out of there. But I'm not a Riverclan cat, so I almost drowned with you."

Shadowpaw suddenly sounded impatient, "Nice story there. Now can we hurry up and go on with the lesson? I don't want to have to take a whole day tomorrow just to-"

Squirrelltooth hissed, "Shut up! Do you want to leave a bad impression on your mentor? He _might _go tell Goldstar how much of a brat you are."

Shadowpaw opened his mouth to reply, but shut it slowly.

Hawkflight continued, "...Anyways, Cornerpaw, Shadowpaw, taste the air.. Like this, open your mouth slightly and breathe in through your nose and mouth, so you can taste the smell as well as smell it. Now, what do you smell?"

Cornerpaw tasted the air as Hawflight explained, and picked up the scent of wet grass, mud, and rabbits. "Mud, wet grass, and rabbits," he mewed.

Shadowpaw tasted the air at the same time Cornerpaw did, but he took a little longer to answer, "Rabbit droppings and mud."

Squirrelltooth rolled his eyes and muttered something to Hawkflight, who purred slightly with amusement.

"Anyways," Squirreltooth meowed, louder, "That's the smell of WindClan. It smells different to every cat. Remember the scent."

Cornerpaw nodded, turning away from Shadowpaw.

_Where to now?_


	4. Chapter 3- ShadowClan

"Jounreypaw, come on. Don't want to be late for your first day of training, do you?" Goldstar mewed.

Journerypaw replied, "Of course not! But don't apprentices normally start the next day?"

Goldstar purred, "Well, you're lucky! It's so early in the day I decided to let you start."

Journeypaw shurgged, "Makes sence. Where to?"

"The ShadowClan border. May as well know your worst enemies first, right?"

Goldstar headed out of the stone hollow, and Journeypaw followed.

_Yes! I get to see the forest!_

And the forest she saw. She was amazed at how huge it was.

"Pretty big, huh?" Goldstar asked.

Journeypaw nodded. The forest was beautiful, scary, and interesting all at the same time.. _Way _better than the camp's view.

"So, the ShadowClan border is this way," Goldstar said, turning right. "Try to take in as much as the forest as you can; it's good to know your way around."

Journeypaw turned after Goldstar and began to look around. There were plenty of sights to see and remember, and she did her best to.

Eventually, they were approaching a stream. She assumed that it was the border, but Goldstar suddenly stopped, making Journeypaw bump into her.

"We're here," Goldstar explained.

She stepped to the left of Goldstar and looked across where she had stopped. The stream was ahead.. wasn't _that _the border?

"Goldstar, why did we stop here?" she asked.

"This is where the border is. _Exactly _where the border is," came the answer.

Journeypaw was confused, "But why isn't the stream the borde-"

Goldstar interrupted her, whispering, "Because ShadowClan have bees in their brains."

_What do they need the stream for? It's not like they're RiverClan and need fish so badly. They eat frogs, but frogs live in ponds and lakes, not rivers!_

She spoke at a louder tone, "Now.. open your mouth and breathe in through your mouth and nose. This is called tasting the air. Now tell me, what do you sme-"

A voice interrupted her, "Hey, you! What are you doing so close to the border? Are you planning an attack? I see you whispering over there!"

Goldstar looked over from Journeypaw, who was following her gaze, to three cats standing on the other side of the stream, who Journeypaw assumed were ShadowClan warriors.

"No, we aren't, bee-brains, I'm training an apprentice!" Goldstar hissed, glaring at the cats.

A ginger and black tabby she-cat spoke up, "Yeah, right!"

"Wait, Thorntooth," a brown tom with black speckles mewed to her, "I haven't seen that apprentice at any Gathering before."

A gray tom, probably an apprentice like Journeypaw, agreed, "Me neither."

Thorntooth hissed, "Strongpaw, you've only been to, what, two Gatherings?"

Strongpaw shrunk back, "Well, yeah, but..."

The speckled brown tom hissed at them both, "Stop arguing! We need to _focus! _You don't want Strongpaw to be foolish like you, do you?" He ended the last part in a sneer.

Thorntooth sighed, "I guess you're right, Seedpelt." She looked back at Journeypaw and Goldstar, "You two! Don't even _think _about crossing the border!"

The group stalked away into the shadowy pine forest beyond.

Goldstar sighed, "As you can see, ShadowClan cats think that every cat's as fox-hearted as they are... but anyways, taste the air and tell me what you smell."

Journeypaw opened her mouth and breathed through it and her nose. What she smelled was putrid.

"I smell frogs and mud with a hint of pine tree."

Goldstar tilted her head, "Well, that's the most pleasant description of the smell. To me it just smells like wet dung."

Journeypaw let out a purr of amusement. "Are we done here now?"

"Not quite," Goldstar explained, "Our border reaches from the edge of the lake to that dead tree over there."

"Okay!"

"_Now _we're done here. Let's go to the WindClan border."

_Yes.. we get to move on! But still, what was up with those ShadowClan cats?_


	5. Chapter 4- Gathering Shadows

**..Had a little of Writer's Block on this one. At least for where to start out at. The rest just came to me. *shoots Writer's Block in the face*  
**

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The full moon shone in the dark night's sky.

ThunderClan was making its way around the lake for the moonly Gathering, but it was Shadowpaw's first. The chosen group consisted of Journeypaw, Cornerpaw, Flashfang, Hawkflight, Nightleaf, Squirrelltooth, Goldstar, Flyingclaw, Rainsplatter, Smallleaf and himself, Shadowpaw.

The Journeypaw, Cornerpaw, and Sadowpaw all walked with their father. They had all grown closer to Nightleaf after Journeyspot died. They all understood one another, he thought, _except maybe Journeypaw, _because they had suffered the same heartache just around a moon ago.

Nightleaf said that the night they announced his mate's death was only second to the worst time of his life, when he found out that Journeyspot died.

But for once, he had to admit, he was excited. It was a clear night, without a cloud in sight, and he was interested to know Riverclan's scent. The group crossed the WindClan border and edged closer to the lake as not to intrude.

"Hey, Shadowpaw," Journeypaw breathed in his ear, "Are you excited as I am?"

He whispered back, "Depends. How excited are you?"

"Very."

"Then that's a 'No'. I'm more excited than you."

"Yeah, right."

He dashed ahead of Journeypaw, "See? I'm further ahead of you in the group. The most excited cats go to the front to get there first."

She caught up to him, and then went ahead of him, "Oh yeah? Well now _I'm _in front of yo-"

"Journeypaw! Shadowpaw! Get back over here before you get in front of Goldstar!" Nightleaf interrupted Journeypaw, "_Now_."

The two fell back to where Nightleaf was. He looked away for a while, and Shadowpaw made sure of that by staring at him for a few moments, then Journeypaw's voice sounded, "In front of you."

He looked over and Journeypaw's tail was a whisker away from his face. It startled him so much, he tripped on his own paws. He got back up and caught up to Journeypaw, now padding beside her.

Nightleaf was purring in amusement, but said with a hiss, "Stop acting like kits, you two. Do you want to look bad at the Gathering?"

Journeypaw's head went down in shame, but Shadopaw's was up boldly looking at his father. "No..." Journeypaw mewed.

"No." Shadowpaw echoed.

Nightleaf flicked his tail in approval and looked in front of him. Shadowpaw followed his gaze; they were at the tree bridge.

Shadowpaw watched as some warriors went across with ease, but some of them had shook the bridge a little, stopped, and continued.

Nightleaf explained with caution when most of the group had gone up, "Now, Shadowpaw, I know you're impatient, but it's your first time crossing the tree bridge, so listen to what I say."

Shadowpaw was too excited to wait for instructions, "No! I need to get up there right _now_!"

Without waiting for approval, Shadowpaw dashed onto the tree bridge.

As soon as he got on, the tree bridge wobbled a little, making Shadowpaw stop and shrink back out of fear.

Nightleaf let out a purr of amusement, "Now will you listen to me? Well then, put your paw beside the branch to your left."

Shadowpaw did as told. "Good," came the reply.

"Now put your other paw right in the middle of the bridge... You've got it! Now you should be able to step up by pretending the middle of the bridge is a ledge as thin as a branch that you need to cross."

Shadowpaw followed Nightleaf's instructions, and he felt the ground beneath his paws once again. He collapsed in relief.

Nightleaf guided Journeypaw and Cornerpaw up the tree bridge as he had done Shadowpaw, and they padded over through some undergrowth.

Shadowpaw broke through the shrubs to find a large tree, its branches looming over the large, cat-filled clearing. "Woah...," Shadowpaw mewed in awe, eyes wide.

As Journeypaw burst through the shrubs, she looked at Shadowpaw. "Wha-?" She followed his gaze to find what Shadowpaw saw. "Woah...," she echoed.

Shadowpaw suddenly wondered where Cornerpaw was. He looked back into the undergrowth, but Cornerpaw wasn't in sight. He looked back to the clearing, trying to shake the thought out of his mind.

The two padded over to where ThunderClan was sitting. Smallleaf was sharing tongues with another cat, Shadowpaw could see, and Goldstar was standing with two other cats near the giant tree.

"Why aren't we starting yet?" Shadowpaw asked quietly to Nightleaf.

"Because RiverClan aren't here yet," came the reply, "Can't you see that Reedstar isn't up there yet?

Shadowpaw sighed, "But I-"

Nightleaf's ears pricked, "Oh yeah, I forgot; it's your first Gathering. Sorry..."

"It's okay."

"Well," Nightleaf mewed, "I should tell you who's who. Over there is ShadowClan." he flicked his tail towards a group of dark-furred cats. "And that's Brightstar, their leader."

He motioned towards a white cat sharing tongues with a brown and white cat with black paws in the distance.

"And who she's talking to is Hoppingstar of Windclan. Oh! Look who's here."

Shadowpaw followed his father's gaze to a group of cats emerging from the shrubs. Leaded by a silvery tom ,who Shadowpaw assumed was Reedstar the group of cats sat down across the clearing.

"That was RiverClan," Nightleaf mewed simply.

Goldstar padded over to the other leaders and said something, of what Shadowpaw couldn't hear, and they hopped onto the low branches of the tree.

"I, Goldstar of ThunderClan, would be honored to announce that this moon's Gathering has begun!"


	6. Chapter 5- Cornered

Cornerpaw felt his paws of soft ground again. He watched as Nightleaf came up the tree bridge with ease, filling Cornerpaw with envy.

"Come on, the clearing's this way," Nightleaf motioned his tail in the direction he was already facing.

Cornerpaw followed Nightleaf, who was a way away, but felt teeth in his scruff. Before he could say anything, he was tossed on the ground.

He looked for Nightleaf, but he was nowhere in sight. Instead, he found a huge brown and black tom and a small brown tom.

Cornerpaw demanded, "W-Who are yo-"

A tail brushed over his mouth, silencing him out of instinct.

The huge tome spoke, his amber eyes threatening to rip his ear off, "Our names have no concern to you."

The small tom cocked his head and the larger one. "But why, Tallbreeze?"

Tallbreeze paused, then sighed, "Shut up, Zephyrclaw!"

Zephyrclaw shrunk back, ears folded.

Cornerpaw kept back a purr of amusement, then concentrated at the subject on hand. "Why did you pull me back here?"

Yet again, a tail ran across his mouth. "Stop talking or we'll rip your throat out!" Tallbreeze kept his voice low, as if trying not to be heard.

He picked up Cornerpaw and brought him to the edge of the island. Cornerpaw thought of struggling, but decided not to out of curiosity and fear.

Tallbreeze sat him down at the edge of the island.

"Now, then..." Tallbreeze glared at Cornerpaw with a look of amusement. Or was it anger? "Your kin has shame running through its blood."

Cornerpaw took that harshly. "Y-You take that back!" he squealed.

Tallbreeze chuckled with amusement. "Do you really think I will? Typical ThunderClan. You think everyone cares for you, don't they? The only reason you aren't dead right now is because I'm in a good mood."

Zephyrclaw echoed, "Y-Yeah!"

"So," Tallbreeze hissed, "You can either run far, farther than all the territories... or die." His heated amber gaze lay on Cornerpaw like fire, and he unsheathed his claws.

Cornerpaw's mind filled with confusion. "W-What? Why?"

Tallbreeze hissed, "Just do it! Run over to the Horseplace over there or you're crow-food!"

Cornerpaw didn't know what to do.

He had two options: death or abandoning his Clan.

He couldn't do either... _Wait..._

He got an idea.

"Okay..," he said, head looming over the ground in fake shame. He heard a chuckle of amusement and the words, "That was easier than I expected... ThunderClan must be more cowardly than I thought." from Tallbreeze.

He put a paw onto the tree bridge a few moments later when he reached it, then dashed the other way.

Tallbreeze and Zephyrclaw were after him now, he was sure of it, but at least he had a head start.

But he realized his own mistake as he remembered the cats' scents.

_Why did I think I could run away from WindClan warriors?  
_

He could just see where he was when Nightleaf told them where to go when he felt claws sink into his pelt and fall down his flank.

He yowled in agony. _StarClan save me!_

* * *

**Kind of a short chapter... sorry for that, but it's all I could think of. The title says it all, right?  
**

**Tomorrow I'll release another chappy. *pinkie promises*  
**


	7. Chapter 6- Rough Winds

**Reply: **

_**Guest: "If you're going to write a story, at least give them decent names. Journeyspot, Cornerpaw, and Journeypaw are dumb names.  
**_

_**Me: Hey, your opinion bro. Still not changing the names. Also, that was a little rude...  
**_

**Also, sorry for the short-ish chappy again.  
**

* * *

"As you all know," Goldstar announced, "Journeyspot is dead. But her kits have risen up as Shadowpaw, Journeypaw, and Cornerpaw."

Journeypaw felt warm and comforted by the yowls of approval from all four Clans.

"Journeypaw! Cornerpaw! Shadowpaw!"

Goldstar waited for the yowling to settle down. "Now, then. Prey has been running well in ThunderClan. I am finished; Reedstar may continue."

Reedstar took the attention of all the cats in the clearing. "Thank you, Goldstar. I'm sad to announce that a beloved elder, Streampelt, is dead."

Yowls of disappointment ran through all of the Clans, but Shadowpaw and Journeypaw were silent.

_Who's Streampelt? Apparently an elder..._

Reedstar yowled for everyone to be quiet. "Now then... Heatpaw has taken the name of Heatshine as a fully-taught medicine cat. He will, however, remain as Floatingstone's apprentice, as normal."

Yowls ran through the Clans once again. "Heatshine! Heatshine! Heatshine!"

Reedstar waited for them to quiet down. "Now then, Brightstar may begin."

Before Brightstar could speak, a yowl, almost broken, ran through the clearing.

Journeypaw cocked her head, but then in an instance remembered whose yowl that was.

_Cornerpaw?_

She ran to where the yowl came from, followed by Shadowpaw and Nightleaf. Soon, a few more of ThunderClan went to follow too.

They burst through the shrubs and climbs over some undergrowth to find Cornerpaw fighting off a two cats, one big, one small.

Journeypaw saw Nightleaf run forward and pounced on the huge brown tom, who was pinning down Cornerpaw, and then Journeypaw ran to take on the smaller one.

She bit the mysterious tom's ear, and he countered with strike to the underbelly, flipping her over. He pinned her down, and Flyingclaw came to her rescue, knocking the tom in once direction and her in another. Shadowpaw soon joined him, but their battle was interrupted by Goldstar's voice.

"What are you cats_ doing_?"

Journeypaw instantly explained, "There were two cats hurting Cornerpaw!"

Goldstar's face turned from accusing curiosity to shock. "Who two cats?"

Flyingclaw answered her, "It was Zephyrclaw and Talbreeze of WindClan, Goldstar."

Cornerpaw moaned, and Journeypaw padded over to him.

"Cornerpaw? A-Are you okay...?"

Cornerpaw opened his mouth to speak, but Smallleaf's voice sounded.

"Out of the way!"

Instantly, most of the cats gathered around backed away to make a path for Smalleaf.

Journeypaw could see now Zephyrclaw and Tallbreeze, shrunk back, surrounded by ThunderClan members and a few other cats. By their scent, it was WindClan.

Journeypaw suddenly noticed Hoppingstar glaring at the two warriors.

She turned her attention back to Cornerpaw, but he was gone. She looked around a little, and Smalleaf was carrying Cornerpaw down the tree bridge. Once on land, she began to dash towards the Thunderclan camp.

Goldstar turned her head solemnly. "ThunderClan... We're leaving."

Hoppingstar joined her, signalling her tail for her Clan to follow.

_Poor Cornerpaw..._


	8. Chapter 7- Hellos and Goodbyes

Goldstar padded next to Hoppingstar, Shadowpaw noticed.

He then realized that he was traveling with WindClan. Uck.

Suddenly, tripped, but caught himself. "Oh, I'm sorry!" sounded a voice from somewhere in front of him.

"Hey! What are trying to..?" He looked up, his voice trailing off. What stood in front of him as a golden young she-cat, only a little bigger than Graypaw back at ThunderClan.

"Sorry. I almost tripped you. Did you cut your paw on anything, or...?" The she-cat continued.

Shadowpaw scoffed, "No, I didn't! Now stop tripping me."

The golden she-cat glared at him. "Don't be so rude."

Shadowpaw sighed, "You're WindClan, right? Well, your Clan nearly killed my brother! For all I know, he _is _dead!"

The golden she paused, then padded a little more slowly. "I'm sorry... That was your brother...? I'd hate if that happened to my littermate..."

"Then you know why I'm in a bad mood now. So leave me alone."

The young she-cat persisted, "But it was _my_ Clan that hurt your brother. I'm a medicine cat, anyways."

Shadowpaw looked at the she-cat in surprise, "You're WindClan's medicine cat?"

The tom looked at the ground. "Not really.. not _yet_... I'm Heatshine."

"Hm. Well, Heatshine, I'm Shadowpaw."

There was a silence. He didn't know why, but there was. He used this to his advantage by looking at the moon; it had been bugging him to see if clouds were covering it.

Sure enough, it was. _How long has it been like that?_

Heatshine mewed, "Well, uh, I just got my name at the Moonpool a few days ago."

"Yeah, I heard at the Gathering. You heard that me , my brother, and my sister got our apprentice names, right?"

Heatshine lowered her head, "Not really... Floatingstone was talking to me..."

"Oh. Well, we just got them... what, four sunrises ago?"

"Neat. Oh, and I heard Featherbreeze say that we're taking you guys to our camp..."

"What?!" Shadowpaw squealed.

He looked around and realized that the group was in the moorland.

"Great.. we have to be in the moorland probably all night..."

Heatpaw cocked her head. "No, not really.. Only Goldstar and Cornerpaw are staying with us."

"Whew..." Shadowpaw felt relieved. "N-Not that your camp is bad or anything, but..."

Heatpaw interrupted him, almost, "Yeah... I can't imagine the sky being covered with trees and branches and leaves and stuff."

"Same here," Shadowpaw agreed, "I can't imagine being completely vulnerable to the rain."

Suddenly, Heatpaw looked ahead, ears pricked, "We're here!"

Goldstar talked a bit to Flyingclaw, who padded over to the group of cats.

"ThunderClan, I have orders from Goldstar. We're going back to camp. Smalleaf is going to try and help Cornerpaw here in the WindClan camp for a while. Goldstar is going to stay and make sure those WindClan warriors don't try and hurt him again. Smalleaf hopes to have Cornerpaw back in camp by tomorrow, but it could take up to four days, at most."

He finished in a stern voice, "Follow me."

_This is why Flyingclaw should already be leader! _"Yes, Flyingclaw. Bye, Heatshine."

"Bye!" Heatshine called after Shadowpaw, who as already heading towards ThunderClan.

He heard more words from the golden medicine cat. "I'll take good care of your brother for you!"

_You better have!_


	9. Chapter 8- Sharp Breeze

Dizziness... The world around him looked blurry. Cornerpaw blinked a couple of times to see if the blurriness would go away. When it did, Cornerpaw didn't recognize anything. _  
_

_Wha- Where am I? _He tasted the air- he could smell Smalleaf, herbs, and... WindClan? He attempted to stand up, but his left hind leg gave in on him.

Before he could try again, he heard pawsteps and then Smalleaf's meow, "Cornerpaw? You're awake!"

Cornerpaw looked over to Smalleaf. He was about to ask what happened... but then he remembered what happened last night. "Smalleaf, where are we?"

Smalleaf took a step back, as if hesitating to answer him. Eventually, she mewed, "Er... We're _sorta _in WindClan's medicine cat den..."

Cornerpaw couldn't believe his ears. "What? But the cats who _attacked_ me were WindClan warriors!"

Before he could protest any longer, a golden she-cat came into the den. "Oh, he's awake, is he? That's good."

He would've guessed that it was Goldstar, but this cat smelled like WindClan and looked younger. Soon after, two more cats came in: a gray and white tom and another golden she- who he knew was Goldstar.

The tom meowed gruffly, "So he's awake? Good, he'd better be. I want to send him on his way immediately."

Cornerpaw protested, "But I tried to get up a second ago... And I couldn't... So... I can't really-"

The tom hissed, "Not my problem! Besides, I can't waste my herbs helping a cat from an enemy Cla-"

The golden she- who wasn't Goldstar- interrupted him, "Featherbreeze!" she snapped, "Smalleaf promised she'd give you more herbs in return! And besides, it's our job to help _all_ cats, not just in our Clan! Also, it's Hoppingstar's decision when they must leave, not yours!"

There was a long silence, but then Featherbreeze sighed, "Heatshine... You have learned a lot, haven't you?" His sigh became a purr. "You'll make a great medicine cat, you know."

Heatshine purred back, and then Smalleaf nudged Cornerpaw. "Cornerpaw... Um... Your leg's kind of... Dislocated..."

"...At least it isn't broken," Cornerpaw mewed.

Goldstar- at last- spoke up. "She'll have to pop it back in place."

Cornerpaw shrunk back. "Will it hurt?"

"Well," Smalleaf mewed, "It might hurt a little."

Before Cornerpaw could react, Smalleaf and Featherbreeze padded closer to him. He braced himself as they began to move his leg, Featherbreeze holding him in place. Soon, he felt a rush of pain and heard a slight _click_.

Cornerpaw winced, but the pain quickly passed. "That wasn't too bad... Am I okay to travel to ThunderClan?"

Smalleaf looked at Cornerpaw's leg, but her attention was switched to his paw.

"...Your paw... _It_ could be broken. If you _can_ travel, you'd have to limp. If you can get up. Try not to put pressure on that paw."

Cornerpaw forced himself to get up with only his three good legs. He put his bad paw on the ground, but didn't put any pressure on it.

"See? I'm fine." But when he took a step forward, he had a little trouble limping.

Smalleaf obviously saw his difficulty. "I'll help you out. You'll eventually get the hang of it. You just need to hop when you'd normally put pressure on that leg. ...But I'm surprised that cats could dislocate a leg _and _break a paw..."

Cornerpaw was hot under his fur; he didn't need WindClan thinking he was weak. "...They tried to make sure I wouldn't get away, I guess?"

Smallleaf mewed, "I guess it doesn't matter. Let's just get you home... Featherbreeze, I'll give you the amount of cobwebs you used on Cornerpaw at half-moon. As for now, thanks to you and Heatshine for helping."

Heatshine dipper her head to Smallleaf. ''You're welcome. We're just doing our jobs."

As Goldstar led Smallleaf and him out of the den, after a while, she turned to Cornerpaw with serious eyes. "Do you have any idea why those cats attacked you, at a Gathering nonetheless?"

Cornerpaw was shocked by the question. "...No... I don't."

Goldstar stared him in the eyes. "They're the ones who killed your mother, Cornerpaw. I was too shocked to tell then, but I recognize them now."

* * *

**YAAAY I UPDATED! Sorry for the long wait. I'm just too stupid and too busy to do this stuff :P**

**CLIFFHANGAR! WRAWR! **

**...Is that a cliffhanger? Eh, whatever. Call it what you want, it was a good ending for the chapter, right?**


	10. Chapter 9- Returning But Uncertain

**HOLY CRAP THE 9th CHAPTER! **

**I'm surprised I made it this far already! I had already made the characters before even thinking about writing this story... Finally I got to bring them to life! And I think, as the god of this story, that I've been too harsh on Cornerpaw... If anyone deserves it, it's Shadowpaw... but he doesn't deserve it either. Eh, I'll see who I decide to pick on this time around.. x3  
**

* * *

The crisp, leaf-fall air was bitterly cold. It was close to leaf-bare and prey was getting scarcer by the day. But it was hard to think about it when the sunset-filled sky was so beautiful... or at least what Shadowpaw could see of it anyways.

"Cloudpaw, do you think Cornerpaw is going to come back soon?"

Cloudpaw was already facing him as he looked back at her. "Probably." She shrugged, "We can't go on for too long without Goldstar, can we?"

Shadowpaw couldn't beleive his ears. "Flyingclaw will make a great leader when his time comes! He may as well get his practice in now, I mean..."

Cloudpaw sighed. "Look, most of the Clan already knows you despise Goldstar, but at least try to _pretend _you like her... Some of the warriors doubt your loyalty, you know."

Shadowpaw felt hot under his fur. "It's not my fault she watched Journeyspot die... If anyone's loyalty is-"

His attention turned away from what he was saying by Cloudpaw looking another way. "You smell that, Shadowpaw? It smells like WindCla- No, it's Goldstar and the others! They're back!"

He could hear murmuring around them. "Already?" "They're back? It's hardly been a day!" "Hey, is that Goldstar I see?"

He turned his head towards the bramble entrance, and sure enough, there was Goldstar and Cornerpaw with Smallleaf... But was Cornerpaw limping?

He ran towards his brother, leaving his and Cloudpaw's mouse behind, and when he reached him he asked, "What happened? Why are you limping like that?"

Cornerpaw didn't look up at him. "I'd rather not talk about it... I'll tell you the whole thing tomorrow. I'm tired from walking..."

He watched as the group went on, and at the last minute saw Smallleaf look back at him. She was saying something, but he couldn't hear it through the murmurs of the Clan.

He decided to go back to Cloudpaw and finish their mouse, but when he got back, Cloudpaw had gone, leaving some of the unfinished mouse left. He swallowed the last few mouthfuls of it and then decided to sleep. He padded to the apprentice's den, when he heard Journeypaw's voice behind him.

"Shadowpaw! Did you see Cornerpaw? He was limping... I wonder if he's okay?"

"...Journeypaw, I'm tired... He said he'd tell us what happened tomorrow."

"...But..." Journeypaw sighed. "You're no fun. I'll never be able to sleep knowing there's something wrong with Cornerpaw..."

Shadowpaw sighed. He wanted to scold his sister for being a mouse-brain, but he was too tired. He laid down in his nest and closed his eyes.

A paw throbbed Journeypaw's side. She could hear birdsong in the distance and could smell the familiar scents of her home Clan.

She got to her paws. "Alright, alright, I'm up." Shadowpaw had been prodding her awake while Cornerpaw was just outside the den, by the smell of it.

Shadowpaw mewed, eyes narrow, "Come on. We have to talk with Cornerpaw before we have to go training."

Journeypaw padded after her brother to where Cornerpaw's scent was. Sure enough, he was there.

Cornerpaw sighed. "Journeypaw, Shadowpaw... Look, my paw's broken, and... And Goldstar says that the same cats who hurt me killed Journeyspot."

Journeypaw's eyes widened as she exchanged glaces with Shadowpaw. "What?! So... If we hadn't come earlier..."

"I'd be dead." Cornerpaw sighed, "It's a little depressing... If they're exiled, they'll most likely come trespass in ThunderClan territory. They told me that our kin has shame running through our blood. I don't know what they mean by it..."

Journeypaw scratched the ground. "Then Goldstar will take care of it! And I doubt that WindClan would have the nerve to let them go on our border!"

Cornerpaw shrugged. "They might."

Shadowpaw hissed, "Then Goldstar will have Flyingclaw put up more patrols for the WindClan border!"

"Probably. I won't be able to train until my paw's healed up, anyways, so..."

Journeypaw folded her ears back. "But they might still look for me, Shadowpaw and Nightle-"

She was cut off by a hiss from the apprentice's den. "Quiet! Me and Cloudpaw are trying to sleep..."

All three of the group ignored Graypaw. After a few moments of awkward silence, Cornerpaw's mew came at a whisper, "I'm done here. I'm going back to sleep. You might want to."

Cornerpaw padded towards the medicine cat's den while Shadowpaw went to his nest in the apprentice's den. Journeypaw watched Cornerpaw dissapear inside Smallleaf's den and then padded to her nest.

_...So after all this time it's been two cats out for our kin? Where would they strike next, if they even do? _

_...They could go for anyone! If they killed us three then Nightleaf would be more vulnerable...or not. And if they killed Nightleaf then we'd be depressed... but probably not vulnerable. It's too hard of a decision for even a murderer to make._


	11. Chapter 10- So Far So Good

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I'm just a little busy with school starting up and crap... (That, and I'm lazy... And I got grounded for a week... And... Writer's Block...) But I finally put up le new chapter! (I've started using "le" for words like the and stuff when I talk... Why, you ask? ...Idk)  
**

* * *

The crisp, pre-dusk air filled Shadowpaw's lungs as he prepared for his second Gathering. It had been three days since Cornerpaw had returned, and he seemed to be fitting right in at Smalleaf's den.

The other cats chosen were Cloudpaw, Rainsplatter, Roaringwind, Flashfang, Charredstripe, Dewnose, Blacktail, and Volepelt. Of course, Smalleaf and Goldstar were coming, too.

He mewed a good-bye to his littermates, who were sharing tongues in front of the apprentice's den, before heading towards the group of chosen cats.

"Are we all ready to go?" Goldstar asked boldly, surprisingly sure of herself.

A murmur arose from the cats surrounding him. "Yeah!" "Sure." "Let's go already!"

Shadowpaw followed as Goldstar led the group out of the stone hollow and towards the WindClan border.

As he walked, Shadowpaw caught a glimpse of Cloudpaw among his Clanmates. He caught up to her, happy for someone to talk to for the rest of the trip.

"Hey, Cloudpaw!"

Cloudpaw shifted her gaze to Shadowpaw. "Oh, hi, Shadowpaw. What's new?"

Shadowpaw held back a purr of amusement as he hissed jokingly, "Oh, you know what's up. The whole Clan knows! Even WindClan knows!"

"Well, sorry for asking," she purred in reply.

"Well, then, if you _really_ want to know..," Shadowpaw began, his voice trailing off.

Cloudpaw swiped at the air a tail length from Shadowpaw's face. "I already know, mouse-brain!"

"Well, what's happening for _you_?"

"Not much, to be honest."

There was a pause for a moment or two until Cloudpaw finally said, "Hey, I was just thinking about what my warrior name could be... What do you think, Shadowpaw?"

Shadowpaw thought for a moment, then answered, "How about Cloudfeather?"

"I was thinking more like Cloudwhisker or Cloudpelt."

"What about me?"

"You could be Shadowgrumpypelt. Or maybe Shadowthathashistailinaknot?" Cloudpaw joked.

"Hey! I didn't do that to you, did I, Cloud... Um... Cloudfoxheartface!"

Cloudpaw's gaze fell behind Shadowpaw for a heartbeat. "Hey, that isn't a bad name! Cloudfoxheartface! I'll go ask Goldstar if she could make that my warrior name right now!" she purred with amusement.

Shadowpaw joined her purr. "Hey, neither is Shadowgrumpypelt. Go ask her if that could be _my _name!"

"Okay," Cloudpaw mewed, racing ahead slightly.

"Oh, you know I was joking!"

Cloudpaw and Shadowpaw purred in amusement as they shared tongues, when suddenly Flashfang hissed, "We're here already! You can stop walking now!"

He looked around them. The tree bridge was only a few tail lengths away. "Sorry," Cloudpaw mewed, shrinking back in the corner of Shadowpaw's eye.

He watched as his Clanmates went up the tree bridge swiftly and boldly. He watched Flashfang almost tumble off as he rushed across, making Shadowpaw purr with amusement.

Cloudpaw looked back at Shadowpaw. "You need help getting across? It's only your second Gathering."

Shadowpaw nearly protested about how he could do it, but figured it was unwise. "Sure," he mewed.

Cloudpaw guided Shadowpaw across as they went across together, and he could already hear the rumble of muttering in the clearing. "ThunderClan is taking forever!" "Why are they so slow?" "Where's ThunderClan?" It kept him occupied as he half-focused on crossing.

*.*.*.*

"Hey, who are you?"

A dark gray and black she-cat, about Cloudpaw's size, was looking at Shadowpaw with bright yellow eyes, head cocked.

"Er... I'm Shadowpaw." He tried to ignore her after that, but she pressed on.

"Cool name. So you're Shadowpaw... I heard about your brother. Is he okay? And who's your friend there? I'm Nightpaw!"

"Cornerpaw's fine," he snapped, then calmed down, "and this is Cloudpaw."

Cloudpaw's voice sounded behind him. "Hi, Nightpaw! ...Hey, I've seen you before... That's right, we talked a little bit on your first Gathering."

Nightpaw sounded even happier, as if that was believable. "Oh, yeah! Hi again. Sorry I didn't remember you."

"It's alright. Hey Shadowpaw, why don't you talk with us?"

Shadowpaw looked to Cloudpaw. "Oh, alright. So, tell us about yourself, Nightpaw. As for me, I'm a ThunderClan apprentice."

Nightpaw flicked an ear. "I know who you are. You're pretty popular among the Clans, especially WindClan. Well, I'm a ShadowClan apprentice. Don't worry, I don't listen to the elder's stories about how sneaky ThunderClan is."

_As if! ShadowClan is the sneakiest Clan around! _Instead of speaking his mind, he simply replied, "I don't listen to elders' gossip about other Clans either. Well, maybe sometimes."

Cloudpaw purred happily. "Anyways, what do you think's going to happen at this Gathering?"

Nightpaw looked interested at the question. "Hm. Haven't thought about it. I think it's better if we just wai-"

A yowl broke through the clearing. "Cats of all Clans, the Gathering has begun!" Shadowpaw turned to face the Great Oak.

The clearing broke into a respectful silence before Brightstar continued. "I beleive Hoppingstar should begin, as we agreed?"

Hoppingstar rose and bowed her head to Brightstar, respectively. "The prey has been running well in WindClan, and so have our warriors. We have exiled Zephyrclaw and Tallbreeze outside of Clan territory and Cornerpaw is in his home of ThunderClan... That is all."

Goldstar rose after Hoppingstar. "Thank you, Hoppingstar. Cornerpaw is indeed back in his Clan. There are no problems to even suggest saying. Reedstar, would you like to add?"

Reedstar rose as Goldstar sat down. "The fish have been swimming in our streams, and they will need to be. I am proud to announce that Streamsong is expecting Moonflight's kits."

There were yowls of agreement from RiverClan, and a few murmurs from the other Clans.

Brightstar rose after Reedstar sat. "ShadowClan has been doing well. We are as strong as ever and are protecting our borders as always."

As Brightstar and the other leaders bounded down from the tree, Shadowpaw wondered, _Why did Brightstar mention borders? Is she insisting that us or RiverClan have been crossing it?_

He heard Nightpaw meow behind his gaze. "Well, I have to go! See you next Gathering, maybe!"

Shadowpaw watched as Nightpaw padded after her Clanmates, who were already leaving the clearing.

Before Shadowpaw could say or do anything, Goldstar's yowl broke across the clearing.

"ThunderClan, time to go!"

* * *

**...So, sadly, no action. But I suppose I had to get _something _out there for you guys! Sorry if this chapter was boring!**


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